Jewish community to fight alcohol and drug abuse

Wendy Gordon thinks it's time for the Jewish community to face the truth: Teenagers and adults are abusing alcohol and drugs.

Gordon, a social worker and member of Boca Raton Synagogue, is forming a team at the Orthodox congregation that will assist members with questions about addictions, with full confidentiality.

"Orthodox synagogues have not historically been receptive" to talking about alcohol and drug abuse, Gordon said. "This would be a first."

Boca Raton Synagogue is one of 10 synagogues in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties that have joined South Florida's Jewish recovery network, founded by Mindy Agler, a Boca Raton mental health counselor who coordinated an initial meeting in May. Her husband is senior Rabbi Richard Agler at Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton.

Agler works closely with the Texas-based The Rush Center of the Johnson Institute, that assists faith-based recovery groups.

Although churches nationwide have created similar faith-based networks, the South Florida coalition is the first Jewish network in the nation, according to Rush officials.

Gordon and psychologist Francine Rubenstein want to place literature in the lobby of the Boca Raton Synagogue that provides information about the support team they're forming and plans to reach out to congregants. Abuse of alcohol, marijuana and heroin is growing among young congregants, some of whom hide their habit in neighborhood parks, Gordon said.

The synagogue started serving grape juice instead of wine at religious events, because rabbis found congregants were abusing alcohol.

The congregation sent representatives to the initial meeting in May of a local Jewish recovery network and wants to keep the momentum going, said Gordon, who works on domestic abuse cases at the Alpert Jewish Family & Children's Services in West Palm Beach.

"We are a fast-growing community with a lot of teenagers. Problems get buried under the carpet. We want it not to become an epidemic," Gordon said.

Some observers say synagogues have been slow to understand the prevalence of alcoholism among Jews. Jews often are ignorant of or in denial of the symptoms, according to rabbi and psychologist Benzion Twerski, who has written extensively on Jews and alcohol.

South Florida's rabbis have embraced the network, because they see the havoc addictions can wreak on families, Agler said.

"Most rabbis have been really open, but there has been some denial on the part of the [lay] leadership," Agler said. "So many people come forward when they hear support from the pulpit."

She grew up with an alcoholic mother, and her childhood synagogue in Augusta, Ga., was not helpful in healing her family, Agler said. She and a team at Congregation B'nai Israel have organized several programs. The team sponsors meditation sessions on Monday nights, writes articles for the synagogue newsletter and passes out literature.

The network plans to meet three or four times a year to brainstorm. A second round of training for synagogues that are new to the network is scheduled for May. Agler hopes to bring the program to other cities in the coming years.

"We want to show, 'This is a synagogue where we talk about this,' " Agler said. "This is a place where we celebrate recovery."

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

Contact information

Synagogues in the Jewish recovery network:

Boca Raton Synagogue

Contact: Wendy Gordon

E-mail: wgordon@jfcsonline.com

Phone: 561-394-5732

Congregation B'nai Israel,

Boca Raton

Contact: Mindy Agler

Phone: 954-360-1234

E-mail: maglerlmhc@yahoo.com

Temple Beth El, Boca Raton

Contact: Dawn Jonas

Phone: 561-699-1577

E-mail: dawndj@aol.com

Temple Shaarei Shalom,

Boynton Beach

Phone: 561-364-9054

E-mail: temple@templeshaareishalom.com Lois Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6536.